I read this first in 2018 as I was getting into comics. 5 years later, with the anticipation of going into doing some of my own, I wanted to come back and study this masterpiece and note down some thoughts.

"Translated, from the Japanese," is my personal favourite story of the five. Each desaturated panel looks like it could be a front cover - gentle, muted, precise. Tomine does not illustrate a single face as he tells this story, and this choice lends itself to the liminal, melancholic atmosphere of the piece. Very few details about our characters are given, but the second person perspective and microcosmic plot finish a beautiful story that has me feeling exactly the way this master craftsman must have intended for me to - deep longing and sadness for a life that is not mine.

I think I've learnt via other cartoonists that when it comes to panels, less is more. Tomine really shakes this philosophy, not afraid to use multiple similar panels to show expression changes and silent panels for effect. The perfect balance is going to be difficult to achieve for each individual artist, but practising in this style has greatly enhanced my ability to determine that cutting a lot out isn't necessarily a perfect method to make a page powerful. ( )

Deeply touching and sad stories, told in a simple yet powerful way, with a visual narrative simple but rich in styles and with a lot of small revealing details (e.g. the length of people's hair to describe the passing of time). A great author. ( )

Adrian Tomine understands the psychology of the average, if slightly twisted, person. And, more importantly, he knows how to utilize comics to show this. He's funny, dark, sad, angry, optimistic, lonely, and just about every other shade of human emotion we regularly experience. This short-story collection isn't better than any of his other works, but still shows how great his talent is nonetheless.

Favorite Quote: "[I've been visiting my old house a few times now. I don't own it, the owners don't know me. My last visit I found a fallen old lady clattering across the kitchen floor.] I locked the door behind me when I left. I listened for sirens, almost hoping that I'd hear them. I walked up the block, into the stream of oblivious, happy people with their families, their shopping, their chatter. And starting right there, I tried my best to become one of them." (Killing and Dying by Adrian Tomine, Pg. 121)

A collection of stories that is my fave Tomine in years. His art and writing both seem to have gotten looser and more playful, a welcome respite from what had become a perhaps-too-perfectionist and stiff style. These stories are emotional and elegant but also often fun and laugh-out-loud funny. Really great stuff. ( )

Tomine's best since Optic Nerve. ( )